Nashville Predators talk - The offseason.

[Predsanddead24]

I have a hard time seeing Trotz just running it back without trying to upgrade a player or two but we will see. I do think we’re going to continue to see us err on the side of overcooking our prospects so while the guys who have to clear waivers will get a shot I don’t expect we’ll see Kemell, L’Hereux, or Svechkov unless injuries give them the chance. I think Tomasino has been destined to be on his way out since we sent him down this year but the original Gallagher tweet was selectively edited to make it sound worse than what Bruno actually said.

 

[Armourboy]

I did hear a snip on the radio this morning where Trotz said he is open to anything that improves the top 9, so hopefully that means alot of that other mess is just GM out the door talk.

He also said the 4th line is fine for what they are supposed to be.

 

[herzausstein]

"Would love to have all the UFAs back" is GM speak. Don't read into that he's going to do whatever it takes to sign each of them.

Perhaps but even if you just bring zucker and sherwood back - Trotz confirmed they were going to reach out to sherwood and zucker said he made it clear to trotz he wanted to stay - that doesnt leave much room for any upward movement

Forsberg - ror - nyquist
Xxxx - novak - Evangelista
Zucker - sissons - xxxxx
Sherwood - McCarron - smith

Glass, Jankowski, parssinen, Tomasino, Afanasyev, ZLH in the mix. Not including Kemell as he probably needs another year to cook. I guess as we have some room in there as long as you arent married to the idea that Jankowski has an automatic roster spot.

 

[herzausstein]

I did hear a snip on the radio this morning where Trotz said he is open to anything that improves the top 9, so hopefully that means alot of that other mess is just GM out the door talk.

He also said the 4th line is fine for what they are supposed to be.

Resign ufas - trade lots of prospects for marner - profit

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

"Would love to have all the UFAs back" is GM speak. Don't read into that he's going to do whatever it takes to sign each of them.

I don't read it as "do whatever it takes" at all. Just even expressing a willingness to have them back, period, wouldn't be something I'd bother with. Beauvillier or Sherwood or Barrie at the league minimum for example, I have a different plan for those roster spots. Carrier at anything more than about Lauzon's contract. It's not a matter of "whatever it takes", it's simply "do not want, period" over here.

I'd consider Lankinen and Zucker --- those are the two where "if the numbers are right", I could have room for them in my lineup.

But I guess it also doesn't hurt to send guys packing without saying anything bad about them - even by omission. If it's interpreted by other teams as "hey, nothing wrong with these players", then hopefully it helps them land jobs elsewhere.

 

[PredsV82]

Kemell definitely needs to get 10 to 20 NHL games to see if he can hang and if not to see what he needs to work on. He's our next Forsberg, and we don't need to stifle him if he is ready

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Personally, I want to see Kemmel up here next season. He is a goal scorer something we lack. Put him on a 3rd line with a passer and the pp. Depth scoring right there.

I think he probably needed a bigger year in Milwaukee than he ended up having. Hopefully he has that year next season. With some others moving up, he should certainly be looked at to be a big scorer for the Ads next season.

 

[Enoch]

Enoch, you're an awesome poster, and I agree with most of your opinions, the irony in this statement though. Brunette has had 1 season so far, 1.

Oh I agree. I'm just worried haha. He is so abrasive in his comments towards young players that it heightens my worries.

He has an abrasive nature in his press conferences in regards to young players. I think Hynes and the last regime/management have me on edge.

I simultaneously like what I hear and hate it.

 

[hockey diva]

I would be curious if other teams sit on their prospects for as long as we do. Is it a talent issue or just "not playing the right way"? I appreciate the need for 2 way play but we have been starved for pure goal scorers. Sometimes, you have to let your scorers just be scorers.

 

[Enoch]

What did he say that was incorrect?

Cody Glass scored a hat trick, we traded for some forwards, and he basically never saw the ice again. Bruno is now questioning if he wants to continue playing hockey at all going forward. I mean....that is pretty extreme.

My point is he goes to extremes. You can have some nuance.

Bruno doesn't mince words, and he is perfectly fine throwing you under the bus. He did it in just about every press conference prior to us moving forward with a veteran heavy team.

Maybe this is the ideal approach. Maybe not. Clearly we had a very effective team really from December on.

We do need to infuse the roster with a mix of young talent though. It can't just be vets.

 

[ShagDaddy]

Personally, I want to see Kemmel up here next season. He is a goal scorer something we lack. Put him on a 3rd line with a passer and the pp. Depth scoring right there.

Kemmel made a lot of progress in his game this year. One thing he’s still trying to figure out is how to create enough space for himself to get that lethal shot of and on net. I don’t think he’s quite there yet but if they give him an extended look out of camp and the organization is transparent with their intentions for him, it would probably be a good idea. We have to remember that the kid is just 20 years old.

 

[predhead1]

I don't read it as "do whatever it takes" at all. . .

But I guess it also doesn't hurt to send guys packing without saying anything bad about them - even by omission. If it's interpreted by other teams as "hey, nothing wrong with these players", then hopefully it helps them land jobs elsewhere.

Fully agree. I think Trotz is being intentionally tight-lipped about his plans so that if he does start looking for trade partners, other GMs aren't going to know they have him over a barrel because instead of being reserved, he made a statement about needing to overhaul the roster - he hasn't done that, so he can deal from a position of equal strength. And as you note, he's probably doing a solid for some of the guys he has no intention of keeping.

 

[ShagDaddy]

I have zero problem with Trotz and Brunette’s comments regarding Glass and Tomasino. They were one liners for a press conference. The two of them have spoken extensively with Glass and Tomasino throughout the season working with them on what they would like to see from them. Brunette is an excellent communicator based off of what the current players have said as well as people that have talked about working with him in the past.

Trotz and Brunette have proven so far that they aren’t going to fluff up their comments with politically correct bullshit, they’re going to shoot it straight. That’s a much better form of communication because people know exactly what they think and also where they stand with them.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Is Josi our only player in the World Championships? It doesn't look like the rosters are up on the IIHF site yet? Some players eliminated in the first round are still being registered by various teams.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

I would be curious if other teams sit on their prospects for as long as we do. Is it a talent issue or just "not playing the right way"? I appreciate the need for 2 way play but we have been starved for pure goal scorers. Sometimes, you have to let your scorers just be scorers.

It's variable, but it's not unique to us. I follow the Kings as closely as the Preds and it is 100% the same issue there, with the same blame being apportioned at the same type of targets.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I would be curious if other teams sit on their prospects for as long as we do. Is it a talent issue or just "not playing the right way"? I appreciate the need for 2 way play but we have been starved for pure goal scorers. Sometimes, you have to let your scorers just be scorers.

It was curious how we grabbed Fagemo, Foudy, and Anderson-Dolan from the prospects scrapheap from other teams. They were all about as highly touted as our demoted/un-promoted guys have been. It's tough to make the NHL. It wouldn't be shocking if any of Afanaseyev, Glass, Tomasino, or Parssinen ultimately land in similar straits, unfortunately.

I'm not sure how much it helps us to bring in older AHL tweeners or claim those waived guys off of other teams' scrapheaps as opposed to giving our own such guys a little more opportunity when our team isn't contending either way, however.

Not a lot of players make it as really impactful NHLers after they've used up their waiver exemption in the minors. The good ones usually find a way to force themselves into the lineup sooner. So it's not too likely any of our internal guys was going to magically blossom into a savior regardless. You hate to seem to be wasting investment time by tossing them aside, but on the other hand, there's kind of an endless supply of these guys always available. The scrapheap is always there, always getting replenished. All teams are contributing similarly.

 

[bdub24]

We all thought Barry was sticking with Hynes at one point too….

 

[ShagDaddy]

I'm not sure how much it helps us to bring in older AHL tweeners or claim those waived guys off of other teams' scrapheaps as opposed to giving our own such guys a little more opportunity when our team isn't contending either way, however.

You take the chance on claiming them because they’re 23/24 year old players that have potential. If they work out on the NHL roster, great. If they don’t work out on the NHL roster, waive them and hope they get through to Milwaukee to help the AHL team. Either way it cost the team nothing to do it and if it works out then it’s a free asset. Fagemo got reclaimed by the Kings, sent to Ontario and turned into the NHL goal leader. Theres a good chance that he will make the Kings’ roster next year because of his season in the AHL. If the Preds would have managed to keep him, he would have been a good asset next season. Just because he wasn’t drafted by the Preds doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be a good prospect for the Preds.

I don’t care how they get the prospects as long as they get them. I also don’t care if a waiver wire pick up beats out a kid the Preds drafted. If the kid makes the Preds roster better, thats all that matters.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

You take the chance on claiming them because they’re 23/24 year old players that have potential. If they work out on the NHL roster, great. If they don’t work out on the NHL roster, waive them and hope they get through to Milwaukee to help the AHL team. Either way it cost the team nothing to do it and if it works out then it’s a free asset. Fagemo got reclaimed by the Kings, sent to Ontario and turned into the NHL goal leader. Theres a good chance that he will make the Kings’ roster next year because of his season in the AHL. If the Preds would have managed to keep him, he would have been a good asset next season. Just because he wasn’t drafted by the Preds doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be a good prospect for the Preds.

I don’t care how they get the prospects as long as they get them. I also don’t care if a waiver wire pick up beats out a kid the Preds drafted. If the kid makes the Preds roster better, thats all that matters.

Nobody here cares HOW we get players who make our team better.

But the point here is none of those guys did make our team better, didn’t stick on our team, weren’t even as good as the younger prospects we sent down, and have very low odds of ever being better than them in the NHL.

Once the team that drafted a guy and invested development years waives a player, and then numerous other bad teams pass on taking them for free, there’s not likely much to see there. Even a very mediocre player like Tolvanen is an extremely rare find on waivers. Not that it couldn’t ever happen… but it certainly didn’t in these cases.

 

[ShagDaddy]

Nobody here cares HOW we get players who make our team better.

But the point here is none of those guys did make our team better, didn’t stick on our team, weren’t even as good as the younger prospects we sent down, and have very low odds of ever being better than them in the NHL.

Once the team that drafted a guy and invested development years waives a player, and then numerous other bad teams pass on taking them for free, there’s not likely much to see there. Even a very mediocre player like Tolvanen is an extremely rare find on waivers. Not that it couldn’t ever happen… but it certainly didn’t in these cases.

If you don’t think a 24 year old kid that put up 43 goals in the AHL in a dominant fashion isn’t even as good as the players the Preds sent down, I guess I don’t know what to tell you.

 

[Kat Predator]

I would be curious if other teams sit on their prospects for as long as we do. Is it a talent issue or just "not playing the right way"? I appreciate the need for 2 way play but we have been starved for pure goal scorers. Sometimes, you have to let your scorers just be scorers.

Given that we have one of the oldest teams in the NHL, I think the answer is "no, they do not."

There have been a few guys who've gotten an extended shot early in recent years (Tolvanen, Tomasino, Fabbro). 'Nuff said there. I really hope Evangelista is not the next on that train. Parssinen may be. Glass, while not our draft pick, fits in here as well. We've given far more rope to the overaged role players like Novak, Jeannot, and Smith—maybe because they have to work extra hard just to get their foot in the door in the first place.

 

[Armourboy]

If you don’t think a 24 year old kid that put up 43 goals in the AHL in a dominant fashion isn’t even as good as the players the Preds sent down, I guess I don’t know what to tell you.

He didn't do anything here and LA sent him back down so what does that say about his 43 goals?

 

[Kat Predator]

Nobody here cares HOW we get players who make our team better.

But the point here is none of those guys did make our team better, didn’t stick on our team, weren’t even as good as the younger prospects we sent down, and have very low odds of ever being better than them in the NHL.

Once the team that drafted a guy and invested development years waives a player, and then numerous other bad teams pass on taking them for free, there’s not likely much to see there. Even a very mediocre player like Tolvanen is an extremely rare find on waivers. Not that it couldn’t ever happen… but it certainly didn’t in these cases.

I think we're seeing a bit of what regime change does for and to a franchise. The players that the previous regime drafted and developed, regardless of the sport, can be painted with a very, very wide brush. New regimes, which we've never had here before, can very often value recent familiarity (see Beauvillier) over the last regime's commitments and efforts. See also the major purge at the '23 TDL. Poile, for all intents and purposes, had stepped aside, and it was GMBT getting a head start on purging the roster of GMDP's failures.

Again, I fully expect more of this approach. Getting rid of Poile's "soft and skill reliant" guys and replacing them with familiar players who play "hard and gritty".

He didn't do anything here and LA sent him back down so what does that say about his 43 goals?

That it is a big deal if you watch box scores?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

He didn't do anything here and LA sent him back down so what does that say about his 43 goals?

Yeah, everybody who watches him seems to agree he doesn't have the pace to his game for it to translate to the NHL. He doesn't have the NHL upside that Parssinen or Tomasino do.

I think we did all agree nonetheless that it was worth a shot to take a look at Fagemo when it initially happened, because the timing was a little different at the start of the season, and it could have been argued that LA was in a bit of a roster crunch, and we still did have those other young players of ours on our roster also. But then we saw firsthand that Fagemo wasn't as good as they are, and after not being able to get him into our lineup promptly returned him to the waiver wire. Not very many people who follow prospects expect Fagemo to make the NHL now. Nothing is impossible. But it's a longshot. Adam Gaudette and Rocco Grimaldi were #1/3 in goals in the AHL this season, nobody is expecting them back in the show either. Mark Jankowski and Denis Gurianov were stars in the AHL. Etc. It's still a big step.

We'll see if our prospects end up in a similar category next season of not being able to take that final step. It's quite possible they will. But we lost a little bit of time helping them get established and make the transition while we utilized the other castaways and tweeners.

 

[weeze]

Preds are currently small and somewhat fast, except for a few, but not very good on the puck. Need better puck handlers/controllers and a true 1C. Adding some secondary scoring would go a long way as I am not sure the top line will career years again. Could happen but history is against them.

I can let go of Beauvillier as he did nothing except for 1 goal. Sure he was fast but so was Sherwood and a couple others. And at over $4M per he is overpriced! Trade Carrier for what you can get. He gets hurt too much and not a needle mover. I prefer Fabbro anyways (against most everyone else on this board). Then you have Big Sexy, Zuck, Glass, Jank, and Keef to fight for jobs with the AHL guys. I would try and Keep Zuck if he wants to stay for a decent price. I liked his style.

You could try and package a few players w PT to see if a scoring winger is available. But a 1C is a must have to move the needle and get into that SC discussion.